I’m frankly surprised by the lack of recent news about over-the-top video in the US.

While BBC iPlayer is increasingly available on multiple devices in the UK, though not yet in form of mobile network enabled iPhone/Android app, Hulu and its minor competitors appear essentially stuck in the PC world.

Yes, one could connect its computer to the TV screen. Of course it’s not the same thing. I wish I could just receive a feed like the one below onto a widget-enabled STB, press OK on the remote control and play the latest Heroes episode seamlessly…

Perhaps something new is developing underneath: this is the main feeling I brought away, back from the ipTV World Forum in London.

Of course the big players had large stands and released powerful features. But a back-to-the-basics mood spread out from many presentations. Moreover, maybe because of the current recession, much more interest than expected has developed around the Open IPTV association, whose aim is to develop end-to-end specifications for IPTV, based upon existing technologies and open standards, for either managed or unmanaged networks.

Let’s say it: most of the current IPTV deployments really fit the definition of Cable TV in Telco’s clothes. They support everything with huge investments, but still don’t know which business they really want to be in. Thus the adoption of standard technologies might be a winning strategy: not only for cost reduction, but even in order to deliver new services and get the market response in a very short time. Essentially a perpetual beta approach.

Would this drive us to eventually enjoy the Internet potential within a television box, like the oncoming IPTV technology has promised years ago?

Of course I don’t have this answer. I just believe that indirect competition is highlighting the urgency of a route change. I’m especially referring to those services which rely on the open Internet, delivering quality content through an outstanding experience: the multi-platform BBC iPlayer is the european best-practice by now, while devices such as Roku and TiVo make the US video-rental offers handier every day.